Sectional floating dry dock



E MCL. LONG SEGTIONAL FLOATING DRY DOCK iled Jan. 17'. 3 Shee'ts-Sheet 1vENCL. LONG SECTIONAL FLOATING DRY Dock vFiled Jan.

Nov. i3 1923.

a-MC1.. LONG SCTIONAL FLOATING DRY DOCK Filed Jan.

171 1919 5 sheets-shea s 001| IIGO o ol w DUHUQ@ 3 woe/Wto@ h f aye/1eMclean lary @513 M utowm l *l l Patented Nov., i3, i923.

naar ermee EUGENE MCLEAN LONG, F NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALFTO HERBERT IVI. KNIGHT, OF MONTCLAIR, lNEX/V JERSEY.

SECTIONAL FLOATING 'DRY DOCK. y

Application led January 17, i919. Serial No. 271,593.`

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, EUGENE McLnAN LONG, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city 'of New York, borough of Manhattan, county andState of New York,

have invented a certain new and useful Sectional Floating Dry Dock, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention pertains to the construction of sectional, floating drydocks, composed of concrete, or other similar material, wherein one ormore of the pontoons, or one or more of the wings,` may be temporarilyremoved for repair or other purposes, independently of the removal orretention of any other portion or portions of the structure.

The invention relates to the structure, as a whole, and, also, tovarious specific parts thereof. One of the salient features of theinvention consists of a chambered pontoon of such construction thatcertain of the chambers can be filled and certain other chambers remainfree of water so as to pro-- duce a non-sinkable type of pontooncomposed of material heavier than the liquid in which it floats.

Among the other features of the invention, though not the exclusiveones, may be mentioned the following; a dry dock provided with pontoonsand wings which. are attachable and detachable from each other; a drydockV embodying a plurality of polygonal tubes. preferably octagonal; apontoon for dry docks provided with controllable air and water inletsand outlets; a pontoon provided with cross bulk-heads; a pontoonprovided with a central, imperforate bulkhead, whereby water may beadmitted to either end of the pontoon, independently of the other; novelmeans for unwatering pontoons, and a cantilever support. cooperatingwith the pontoons, for holding the wings of a dry dock.

Features of the invention, other than those referred to. will appearfrom the hereinafter detailed descriptiom'taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the preferred, practical embodimentof the invention, but the construction shown therein is to be consideredas typical, and not eX- clusive of the various forms in which theinvention may be embodied.

Figure 8 is a section on line 8-8 of Figure 7 Figure 9 is av transversesection of one of the pontoons; v

Figure l0 is a section on line 10-10 of Figure 1l;

Figure l1 is a section on line 11-11 of Figure l0;

Figure 12 is a side elevation of a connecting` pin for uniting thepontoons, cantilever supports and wings;

.Figure 13 is an end view of the connecting pin. f

`Referring to the drawings,'1 is a pontoon composed ofl polygonal,closed chambers 2, across which extend bulkheads 3. A central,imperforate bulkhead a is also employed. Bulkheads 3 are provided withopenings 5 and 6 for drainage purposes, the lower one 5 being positionedat the bottom of the chamber, whereby all the water may be drainedtherefrom. The walls separating the several chambers are provided withopenings 7, whereby the side chambers may be drained into the centralchamber. The heads of the chambers are provided with openings 8, havingvalves 9, operated, through a valve stem l0, by means of a motor 1l, forthe vpurpose of admitting and regulating the flow of water into thechambers. ln practice, a plurality of valves would probably be employedas giving greater capacityY as well as better regulation of the inflowof water into several chambers.

to flow into .the central chamber, rising therein until it finallyreaches and flows through opening 7 into the side chambers, therebyfillingsaid side chambers to the point at which the pressure of theconfined air in the upper part of the chambers will yequalthehydrostatic head of the water eX- terior tok the chamber.

klf no means were provided for the escape of this entrained compressedair, no more water would enter the pontoon. and it would not be possibleto sink it below a certaindetinite depth.` Air escape pipes 12 providedin the upper portion of said chambers lead through riser pipes 13 and tothe upper deck of the wings for the escape and regulation of theentrained air within said chambers. lt is not deemed necessary toillustrate the valves or other loperating mechanism by means of whichthe l'low of this entrained air is regulated. rlheee air pipes permit ofthe withdrawal of the entire or any other portion of' the air within thechamber and serve as means for the regulation of the depth and vspeed ofimmersion ot the pontoons and the type of polygonal chamber, and whilesuch type willbe that probably most generally used, because of itsspecial advantages, it is not intended to limit the construction to thisparticular type. In this form of construction, however, Awhether thelform be octagonal., or of some other polygonal or circular section,angular floating chambers 14 will be provided between the interiorchambers and the exterior Walls of the pontoons, it being the purpose ofthis form ol construction, to provide a heavier than water structure theflotation of which is regulated through the provision, incross sec-tionoie the pontoons, of a portion into which the water of immersion cannotenter from the chambers except through speciiic appliancesprovidedtherefor. As it may be desirable, iowever, to utilize certain ofthese flotation areas in sinking the pontoon, air escape pipes 15 areprovided. which connect with A the riser pipes 13 for the escape of air'from said chambers.` Valves 9, in conjunction with the air pipes 12 and1.5 and the water inlet pipes 16, enable the rise and 'tall of thepontoons and the depth of immersion thereof to be regulated andcontrolled to a posed of the same materiales that of the chamber.v @Thispump. draws .only from the tlotation chambers 11i, it is` not possibleto completely drain the side chambers into the central chamber directlythrough openings 7 or otherwise,..and for the purpose of removn ing thewater in the side chambers to a point practically atthe bottom of thechambers,

siphons 22 are provided for the purpose of conveying the water below thebottom of openings 7 in the side chambers into the central chamber.Priming pipes 23 reaching from the top of the siphon to and beyond thetop of the wings are provided lor priming and exhausting thesiphons. ltis clear that in a structure built of impervious concrete or similarImaterial, practically air tight, that the operation of the pump wouldbe hampered as the water is reduced in the pontoons by the fact that avacuum more or less complete would be created in the upper portions ofthe pontoons as the same are unwatered. To provide such a condition, theair pipes 12 and riser pipes 13 are used for admitting air to thepontoon during unwatering so as to preserve normal atmospheric pressuretherein at such time, as well as liorremoving entrained air during theperiod of immersion.

The priming pipes 23 are connected by by-pass pipes 24 to the dischargepipe 25 of the pump 17 in order that water may pass from the dischargepipe into the priming pipes 24 for the purpose of priming the siphons22. The discharge pipe 25 rises to a point just below the top of thewings so that it may discharge water above the surlace of thewaterexterior tothe dock at all stages oi immersion. This discharge pipe25 has a side outlet pipe 26 provided with a valve 27 operated by a stem28 from a stand 29 or other operating mechanism. A valve 30 operated bya stem 31. through a stand 32 or otherwise, is placed upon the upper armof the discharge pipe, the purpose of these pipes being as follows. Forthe purpose of expediting the sinking of the pontoons, valve 9 isopened, allowing water to enter the'pontoons. YVhen pump 17 isoperated," it discharges through the open valve 27 into the wings,thereby adding to the amount of water which can be 'Hooded into the drydoclr at any particular period. Under certain conditions, it might bedesirable to flood the wings without flooding the pontoons beyond acertain limit, and this may be accomplished by regulating the valve 9 soas'to permit the pump 17 to raise such an amount etwa-ter anddischarge-it through side outlet 26 -annjlvalve 27 as wouldlbesullicient to Hood the chamber "of the-wings to the ext-ent desired.

During the -unwatering .of 'the Ypont-cion,

the valve 27 is closed and the valve 30 opened, allowing the waterwithin the pontoon to be discharged overboard through the upper portionof the discharge pipe. For the purpose of unwatering the chamber of thewings, a drain pipe 33 extending through the bottom of the wings throughthe top of the pontoon, has a valve 34 operated by a stem 35 and a stand36 or otherwise, by means of which valve and its Operative mechanism,the chambers of the wings may be connected to or disconnected from thechambers of the pontoons. Wings 37 are superimposed open either end ofthe pontoons and disconnected therefrom. thereby permitting of theintroduction or withdrawal of either pontoons or wings independently ofeach other, and also of any other pontoon or wing forming part of thedry dock. These wings are of the chambered variety, having a lowerchamber 3S and an upper chamber 39. The lower chamberl is braced bydiagonal braces 40 which have openings 41 therein for the purpose offlooding or drainage alternately, as may be desired.

For the purpose of registering the wings and pontoons approximately, andwithoutinjury to the structural material of which the wings and pontoonsare composed, buffer beams 42 attached to the wings abut upon otherbuffer beams 43 attached to the pontoons of a resilient material, suchas wood. These buffer beams serve the further purpose of taking upshocks as between two partially disassociated structures. Locking bars44 are employed to hold and adjust the pontoons relatively to eachother, and other locking bars 45 are employed for the adjusting andholding of the wings relative to each other, the type of construction ofboth bars being similar. The said locking bars, either of I beam shapeor otherwise, are slidably insertible within yokes 46 which pass throughenlarged holes 47 in buffer beams 43 and are fastened by means of nuts48 t0 the structural material of the pontoons or of the Wings; thismethod of uniting being for the purpose of introducing a resilientvmaterial between the locking bar 44 and the structure of the pontoon orwings as the case may be. Pins 49 passing through holes in the lockingbar 44 and buffer beam 43, are used for the purpose of locating andholding the pontoons laterally with reference to each other. In the formof construction illustrated, the length of vthe wings is approximatelythe same as the width of the pontoons immediately beneath, and for thepurpose of holding said wings in position in case of the removal of apontoon without the removal of its attendant wings, cantilever supports50, having a serrated lower abutting plate 51 which registers in thecorrespondingly depressed bearing plates 52 on the edges of the adjacentsupporting plate.

pontoons, are employed. Straps 53 are securely fastened to thecantilever support by means of bolts 54 and plates 55 and extendoutwardly from the cantilever supports. They are provided with openings56 registering with sockets 57 in the pontoons and registering holes 58in the bottom of the wings for the insertion of removal pins 59 kfor thetemporary attachment of the wings and pontoons separately 0r together tothe cantilever It is evident that with this construction, on thewithdrawal of pins 59, the pontoons or wings, may be removed andreinserted independently of each other.

Openings 63 either temporary in character or'if permanent, closed bysome tight fitting plug or stopper, are left above the upper iiotationspaces 14 for the purpose of introducing ballast in the form of concreteor sand or other permanent or removable material to secure uniformity ofimmersion and to regulate the trim of the pontoons. Gpenings 64 are leftat the bottom of the interior chamber walls of the wings for filling anddraining the adjacent chambers and for inspection.

Outriggers having chambered polygonal spaces 61 and a central slot 62are shown at either end of the dry dock.

The pumps 17 on either side ofeach of the pontoons 1 and wings 37, arefor the purpose of unwatering either side of the pontoon, thesolidfbulkheads 4 preventing these pumps being operative on the reverseside of the solid bulkhead 4. Occasion may arise, however, in which, dueto injury or other cause, one of these pumps may not be able to unwaterits side of the pontoon, and a pipe 65 with lvalves 66 operated througha stem 67 by means of a stand 68 or otherwise, is introduced, passingthrough the bulkhead 4, but in such manner as not to interfere with thewater tightness of the said bulkhead 4, and in the event of theinability of one pump to unwater its side ofv Y the pontoon, by openingthe valve 66 water can fiow from the side of the pontoon in which thepump is inoperative and be lifted by the pump on the other side of thepontoon.

It will be understood that changes may be made in the specific structuredescribednv such as the substitution of equivalents, and that parts ofthe structure may be used separately, or in other environments, withoutdeparting from the spirit or substance of the invention, the scope ofwhich is com mensurate with the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is:

1.l A pontoon for dry docks having a plurality of parallel buoyancychambers of polygonal cross section, adjacent chambers of which areformed with a common wall,

increase and a plurality ol? distinct flotation chambers positionedbetween successive buoyancy chambers and at the top and bottom of thecommon walls, said flotation chambers being provided with air and waterinlet and exhaust pipes, wnereby the flotation chambers may becontrolled independently of the buoyancy chambers.

2. A pontoon for dry docks having a plurality of parallel buoyancychambers of polygonal cross section, adjacent chambers of which areformed with a common wall, and a plurality of distinct flotationchambers positioned between successive buoyancy chambers and at the topand bottom of the common walls, said flotation chambers being providedwith air and water inlet and exhaust pipes, whereby the flotationchambers may be controlled independently of the buoyancy chambers, andthe common walls between successive buoyancy chambers being providedwith openings whereby said chambers communicate with one another.

3. A ontoon for dry doclrs composed of' a plurality of parallelpolygonal tubes having a common wall dividing adjacent tubes, withflotation chambers at the top and bottom of' said common wall andbetween adjacent tubes, and siphons connecting adjacent parallel tubes.

4;. A dry dock embodying pontoons, wings superimposed upon saidpontoons, said wings and pontoons being normally sealed with respect toone another, discharge pipes leading from the interior of the pontoonsand through which pipes the pontoons may be discharged, and a valvedoutlet included in each pipe and leading to the interior or" thecorresponding wing, whereby the wings may be flooded by water dischargedfrom the pontoons.

5. A dry dock pontoon embodying a plurality of parallel polygonal tubeshaving a common wall between each two adjacent tubes, with flotationchambers at the top and bottom of said walls, means for drawing oli'ywater from one of the tubes, and siphonic tubes connecting the twoadjacent'tubes with the tubes in which is located the means for drawingoff' the water.

6. A dry 'dock' embodying a plurality of pontoons and wings superimposedthereon, in combination with a plurality ot resilient buffers forpositioning the wings on the pontoons and locking bars associated withthe resilient buffers for securing adjacent pontoons together. l

7. A sectional dry dock embodying chambered wings superimposed uponpontoons composed of parallel polygonal tubes having a common wallbetween adjacent tubes, and flotation chambers at the top and bottom ofsaid common wall, locking means comprising resilient buffer beamsspanning the opening between adjacent pontoons, and means for anchoringthe buffer beams to adjacent pontoons to preclude the separation of saidpontoons. Y

8. A sectional dry dock embodying a plurality of pontoons, wingspositioned along each lateral margin of each pontoon, and means forsecuring the adjacent pontoons together, said lmeans underlying thejoints between the superimposed wings.

9. A. sectional dry dock embodying a plurality vof pontoons, wingspositioned along each lateral margin of each pontoon, and meansunderlying the joints between the ends of adjacent wings for securingthe subjacent pontoons together, whereby an intermediate wing section ofthe dry dock may be supported by said means in the event that itscorresponding pontoon is removed.

ln testimony whereof, l have signed my name to this specification.

EUGENE MCLEAN LUNG.

